Being home alone wasn't a new thing. It happened often enough that most of the time it was barely anything worth note. This day was barely any different. Dad was at work. Lectures, paperwork, whatever he did to keep work away from home. Mom wasn't the type to sit around. She kept herself busy with various bits of volunteering around town.

It was library day that afternoon. So many people believed Mom was a stage magician before meeting Dad. No one knew that the woman who would read books to children used to be a teacher. It was a little bit funny. To me at least.

Living with lies was…complicated. Most of the lies on my shoulders were harmless. Truly meaningless. Mom's background barely mattered in our day to day and mattered less to people around us.

Across the street was a house full of people that thought Mom used to travel the country and perform on minor stages. They'd never know that Mom was anything other than an eccentric lady who'd show up at my school and chaperone field trips.

When I was younger, I wondered what it would change if it was true. Of course, now I knew. I wouldn't be cursed. I would probably be stuck in some school across town. Dragon Tower would still be closed. The idea made me want to puke.

It was funny in a horrible kind of way, that I used to want to touch that intangible thing called normalcy. Even if Mom was what people thought she was, that one thing would be out of my reach forever.

Perfection was easier to obtain.

But that was okay. Different didn't mean bad. Different was different. Good or bad.

I needed a better distraction.

It was probably a testament to the way I'd been living for the past few months that I'd barely touched my phone since coming back. Then again, who was I going to call or text? Social media wasn't really my thing either.

This was probably why I didn't get along much with the other kids here.

I liked audiobooks though. I scrolled past the fantasy titles, I'd basically lived one now and they'd lost what luster they'd held for it. A story about a colony trying to survive and build on Mars? That one would do.

Though it was really more about the tone of voice and the speed of narration. The personal drama between the governor, his two wives and their families wasn't what I liked about it.

I took a deep breath and went back to my room. On a shelf in my closet, above the hanging coats and barely in reach, boxes. I grabbed one, well-worn and the image scratched. Black background with bright colors. A one-thousand-piece puzzle depicting multiple geodes cracked open and showing their glittering insides.

I brought it back with me to the main living room. Tucked under my arm. I set myself up at the coffee table. Audiobook still playing as I opened the puzzle box.

I like to start with the edges of the puzzle. Once I had my outline I separated the pieces by color. The colors from the gems, red, green, purple, blue, and orange. And the brown from the dirt in the background.

The red geode was in the middle of the image, the green one in the top right, purple in the bottom left, blue in the top left, orange in the bottom right.

I placed the pieces one by one, I tried to ignore the icy feeling in my hand. Not as sharp, but still just on this side of painful. I could feel it with every beat of my heart.

I turned the volume up on my phone.

I could feel the warmth in the rest of my body. It had become steady. The sensation was like I'd just finished a bowl of hot soup on a particularly cold day. Was it always going to feel like this? Would I get used to it over time?

I didn't know if I wanted to.

I finished the red geode and didn't feel any better.

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I missed having walls that could talk to me. The audiobook wasn't cutting it anymore. This was ridiculous. I couldn't have gotten that attached to that place. This was my home, I'd never been attached to any place at school before. But here I sat, staring at my puzzle and wanting the walls to tremble.

I stared at the puzzle. The words from the audiobook going over my head. Something felt hollow now. I hated it.

My spiraling thoughts were shattered at the sound of the front door. Mom was home.

"Hi sweetie," she greeted with a peaceful grin.

"Hi."

She paused as she stepped into the living room. I could see her taking in the scene in front of me. "Keeping yourself busy?"

"A little bit," I said as I paused the audiobook.

She sat down across from me at the coffee table, practically lounging on the floor. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "How was the library?"

"Cute kids, fun story. Something about a beanstalk and a giant."

I laughed once.

She didn't touch the puzzle pieces. She put her elbows on the table just out of the way. I kept at it. The silence wasn't quite as oppressive now.

"Can I ask something?" I mumbled low as I worked on the purple geode section.

"Anything." She said it a little too quickly and with a bit of forced reassurance.

"Did you miss Sylphid Tower?"

She didn't answer right away. I looked up at her. Judging by the look on her face, that wasn't the question she was expecting me to ask.

She took a deep breath, "I did. A little. The first break away was hardest. I missed my friends. Granted my friends weren't in my tower. I still missed the school a little. Ruby kept me company so I'm sure it's harder for you."

"It's something."

"Everyone takes time to adjust."

"You sound like Dad."

"Then I must be doing it right. He's better at this than me."

I laughed properly.

She perked up at the sound.

"I think…" I spoke slowly as I tried to form the thoughts. "I think this feeling just means I made the right choice."

"Oh?"

"Going to The Towers of Nine. If I miss it this much, then going must have been the right choice."

She nodded, "That makes sense."

She said that. But I wasn't sure she fully believed that. Then again, considering what's been happening I couldn't fully blame her. She already thought I was in danger and she didn't know about everything.

I couldn't tell her about the Wraith.

"I'm not going to stop worrying about you," she said. "I don't think I know how."

"I know. And I know it's cause you care." I don't think that comforted her. "I'm going to be fine."

"Just…be careful okay?"

"I'm careful. I don't go looking for trouble you know that."

"I'm more worried about the trouble that's looking for you."

"It won't just find me. I'm not dealing with this alone. And we've got this. I'm not so desperate that I wouldn't…I'm not interested in dying."

Mom was examining me. At attempt to tell how much I meant that. I kept piecing together the puzzle.

I moved onto the green geode.

"I don't think you staying in Pixie would have avoided this," Mom said.

"Probably not. Assuming this is even about me."

She sighed wistfully. "I thought that same thing once."

"And what happened?"

"I was wrong and right. We got attacked in our second year, an assassin targeted Ruby. We won, obviously. But it was messy. One mistake and any of us could have gotten very hurt."

An assassin? "You've never told this story before."

"I tried very hard to not frighten you when you were small."

"Was it bad?"

"He stabbed her. With Death's Echo. No where vital, thankfully. Really it was barely more than a scratch compared to what father dearest did to her."

"But?"

"But. As far as I was concerned any of my sister's blood being spilt was too much. I saw it and panicked. I fought the assassin and won. But I could have lost. Ruby could have died, our friends could have died. One slip up and everything could have come crashing down."

"How do you know? If someone's coming after you?"

"Caution. Paying attention."

"And if I'm doing those things?"

She sighed, "You can still get caught off-guard."

"We're all being cautious. And we've got help. I promise if I see or hear of any…weird or different interactions I'll tell you. And if we get proof of something sinister I'll make sure it's known."

"It's all you really can do right now. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I don't like taking cold medicine."

"But it's the only way to deal with it."

"Please. Trust me?" I pleaded. "That I've weighed the risks and I don't think I'm in lethal danger."

"You don't think you're going to die. But you might get hurt."

"I mean…as long as I'm cursed I can't really say I'm not going to get hurt. And I'm trying for honesty here."

"I appreciate that. And I suppose you're right."

"I promise to keep you updated. I do."

Mom's stare turned intense. She was weighing how much that promise meant. If she could trust me and my word. She must have found enough to put faith in. "I trust you. Tell me or Vivian or your dad about everything out of the ordinary that happens, okay?"

"Of course."

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